


Frozen in Time

by HarbingersSeclude



Category: AI: The Somnium Files (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, F/F, Femslash, Give Hitomi Sagan more screentime you cowards, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Love Confessions, One Shot, Spoilers, Unrequited Crush, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-08
Updated: 2020-07-08
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:41:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,114
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25141792
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HarbingersSeclude/pseuds/HarbingersSeclude
Summary: A young Hitomi Sagan, still reeling from the trauma she endured during high school, escapes to the Okiura Fishery Cold Storage Warehouse to reminisce with an old “friend,” and tries to come to terms with some repressed feelings.
Relationships: Hitomi Sagan/Manaka Iwai
Comments: 2
Kudos: 13





	Frozen in Time

**Author's Note:**

> Hitomi Sagan is cool as hell, and I wish we got more information on her friendship with Manaka. Giving this a shot, but I hope you enjoy it!

The ceaselessly chirping of the seagulls, the robust scent of the ocean, and the gentle current of breeze flooded Hitomi Sagan’s senses. The sun had already set along the pier of the warehouse district, but time was the least of the young woman’s worries. For her, time had felt broken, fragmented, and distorted for several months — or what felt like years. She felt disconnected from reality, and there were moments where her senses were dulled, head clouded, and the world numbed and blurred around her. To free her from her dissociative trance, her adoptive daughter, Iris, generally grounded her through her cooing and crying. There were moments, however, the dissociation was far too strong, and Hitomi resorted to phoning her close friend, Renju Okiura, to provide her temporary relief. He would watch over Iris, as his friend would aimlessly walk and drive around the city, always eventually arriving at the Okiura Fishery Cold Storage Warehouse, largely due to subconscious influence.

The large, metal buildings were imposing. They had no thoughts or feelings — blissfully unaware of the secrets they housed. Hitomi exited her vehicle, soft, felt blanket in hand, and approached the massive steel doors of the building. Not a single thought raced through her mind as she pulled out her key ring, selected one, small, gold key from the assortment, and used it to open the heavy lock chained to the the doors. Her body moved autonomously, as if her limbs were controlled externally with her consciousness subdued. Sliding the doors apart, however, changed everything. The sudden blast of frigid, cold air forced the young mother to quickly come to her senses. Immediately she felt a lump well within her throat, as her hands and legs began to shiver and tremble from the chill and anxiety alike. She did her best to swallow her fears, taking cautious steps inside and shakily closing the doors behind her.

“I’m... I’m home,” Hitomi sputtered, choking on the words as she spoke them. No response. The interior of the warehouse was largely barren, save for the tall, mostly empty shelves with a wooden box or two on them, or an oil drum frozen in its place off to the side. Her wary eyes scanned around the room before fixating on a lone forklift off in the lefthand corner. Frost had collected all over the vehicle to the point where the wheels were frozen in place. The young woman swallowed once again — this one stinging and burning her throat, as she took careful steps forward. Every step she took echoed throughout the cold building, and the sound of her footsteps crashed and reverberated in her ears. The grimace on her face progressively worsened as she made her way towards the forklift, and as she arrived, a look of terror and genuine hurt painted her face. With shaky legs, Hitomi sat herself off the to side of the vehicle, wrapping the now chilly blanket around her backside and back around front. She sat in silence for quite some time — unsure of the actual minutes that had passed. 

Here, in the warehouse, time felt frozen to Hitomi. Elsewhere, the minutes and hours would blend together with weird, puzzling cohesion. The whole day could pass and feel as though it had only been minutes, and vice-versa. This space specifically, however, felt much different. It felt as though a fragment of time was selectively disconnected from reality, and that so long as she occupied this space, time did not pass. She did not share such a space alone, though, as such a fragment was made to be shared with another person — someone the young woman cared for with such a burning, unspoken passion.

“Manaka,” Hitomi whispered, letting her name ring through the air and echo against the walls. A sheepish smile grew upon her lips. “You know me, always a worrier.” The young woman’s grip on her blanket tightened, her fists curled into her chest as she struggled to find the right words to say. “Just wanted to give you an update on Iris... She’s actually been doing really well! Though I must say she doesn’t let me sleep much,” Hitomi chuckled, her laughter stirring up a sense of warmth she so sorely needed. Her smile soon gave way to a heavy sigh, however, as she pressed her back and head against the forklift wherein Manaka’s frozen corpse lied curled in the fetal position. She closed her eyes and furrowed her brows, knuckles white from her tight grip. Tears failed to form, but she struggled to speak regardless.

“We miss you, you know,” Hitomi said in a pained voice. “ _I_ miss you.” She let her true feelings hang in the air, soaking in the deafening silence before she broke it once more. “Everyday I think about you. I think about your adorable little laugh, your warm, gentle smile, and the soft, understanding look you always had in your eyes.” She disapprovingly shook her head. “I never understood your connection to So Sejima, no matter how often you tried to explain it to me I just couldn’t understand— no, no, I couldn’t accept it... But what was I to do?” Hitomi squeezed her eyes closed, as her body shivered and shook. “I could never convince you otherwise, even if I wanted to. You had done so much for me. You were there for me when my parents died, answered every late night call whenever I couldn’t sleep, always gave me your shoulder when I needed to cry...” 

Tears began to pool in the young mother’s eyes, stinging and burning against the cold air. “Manaka, I...” Hitomi tried to speak, but immediately fell into a heaving sob, she tightly gripped her shoulders as she pushed out her words. “I-I-I love you! I wanted you to m-myself...” Her sobbing continued before she spoke again, regaining her composure bit-by-bit. “It’s s-so selfish, s-so stupid, so evil,” she muttered, wiping the streaks of tears from her face. “Sometimes I think that’s why I took in Iris... because it’s the last piece of you I’ll ever get to have...” She sniffled. 

“But... I know I owe this to you more than anything else... For all you did for me... Thank you,” she whispered, a small smile grew on her face, letting the comforting silence linger before filling it with a soothing voice. “I love you... My heart will always belong to you, and I promise to be the second-best mother Iris will ever have,” she spoke, slowly pushing herself to her feet. She gently placed her hand on the side of the forklift, the cold now replaced with warmth. “For you will always be her, and my, number one.”


End file.
